Dr. Wade Davis

Named by The National Geographic Society as one of the “Explorers for the Millennium,” Dr. Wade Davis is world-renowned as an author, researcher, and speaker on one of the most dwindling of natural resources—human cultures, languages, and traditions.

A National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Davis has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet, and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” With degrees in anthropology and biology and a Ph.D. in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University, Davis has led an amazing life’s journey to understand indigenous cultures and their relationship to the planet.

He has spent more than three years in the Amazon and the Andes as a plant explorer, living among 15 indigenous groups in eight Latin American nations, investigated folk preparations implicated in the creation of zombies in Haiti, and countless expeditions to destinations across the globe.

A professional speaker for over 20 years, Davis has also published more than 150 scientific and popular articles on subjects. He is the recipient of numerous awards and his research has been the subject of more than 700 media reports and has inspired numerous documentary films as well as three episodes of the television series The X-Files. He is the host and co-author of “Light at the Edge of the World,” and the host, co-writer, and co-producer of a two-hour special, “Peyote to LSD.”